Molding-machine.



N .88 13s. PATENTED MAY 19 1908. i

0 w. WELSH.

MOLDING MACHINE.

APPLIGATION FILED r1212. 4, 1905.

2 SHBETSSHEET 1.

I I l I 1 I l l INVENTOI? William/7752610 ATTORNEYS WITNESSES: dd.

No. 889,133. PATENTED 19, 1908.

W. WELSH.

MOLDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED IEB.4, 1905.

2 sums-min! a.

IN V E N TOR zmzmw filsiu UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM WELSH, OF KINCARDINE, ONTARIO, CANADA.

MOLDING-MACHINE To all whom it may concern:

Be it known'that I, WVILLIAM \VELsn, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and a resident of Kincardine, in the Province of Ontario and Dominion of Canada, have invented a new and Improved Molding-Machine, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

I/Vhile my invention relates to molding machines in general, the principle of which is capable of application in sand molding for foundry purposes and for many other kinds of molding, it is especially adapted for the production of building blocks of artificial stone and the like, and I prefer to describe it in connection with this use.

The principal objects of the invention are to provide means whereby a plain or figured front face can be molded upon a block of fine or of colored material, and be backed by any other material of a less attractive appearance further, to provide for conveniently in verting the mold box, depositing the product upon a platform, and freeing the mold from the product; also to provide for conveniently removing the product from the machine after it is so freed.

Further objects of the invention, chiefly of a nature similar to those above and connected therewith, will appear in the course of the subjoined description.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a plan view of a machine for molding building blocks, embodying the principles of the invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof, partly broken away to show interior construction; Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the upper part of the machine; Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a perspective View of a mold box preferably used upon my machine, and constituting a feature of my invention; and Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the end of the mold box, showing in section the parts of the frame upon which it is mounted.

The frame of the machine preferably com prises two end pieces each consisting of a pair of plates 10 and 11. These plates are secured together and spaced apart by means of rods 12, and provided with the necessary perforations for receiving the shafts and other parts of the machine to be hereinafter described. Each of the plates 11 is pro- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 4, 1905.

Patented May 19, 1908.

Serial No. 244,156.

-vided with an eye 13 upon the inside of each of its legs. A pair of rods 14 extend from one plate 11 to the other, and their downwardly-turned ends 15 pass through the eyes 13, thus securing the two end pieces together. It will be noticed that although the plates are secured together, they can be removed from each other by taking the projections 15 from the eyes .13 and removing the rods 1 1.

The mold which I prefer to employ comprises a bottom-plate 16, side pieces 17, and ends 18. The sides and ends are provided with plates 19 each having a hook 20 adapted to engage in an eye 21 secured to the bottom plate. It will be seen that by this construction the sides and ends are capable of swing ing outwardly from the bottom plate on these hinges, to provide for freeing the prodnot from the mold. The end plates are also provided with outwardly-projeeting horns 22, located in and passing through eyes 23 upon the adjacent ends of the side plates. It will be seen that when the end plates are swung outwardly upon their hinges, the horns will act upon the eyes 23 in such a manner as to automatically swing the side plates upon their hinges without any additional manipulation. The ends are provided with supporting arms 24 which pass through bearings 25 having conical or elongated openings 26 and secured to the plates 11 of the frame. These arms 24 normally project at right angles from the ends and serve as trunnions upon which the mold box can be inverted. \Vhen in inverted position the end pieces can be swung outwardly as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, by raising the outer ends of the arms 2 1 in their sockets. They will then act as levers for swinging the end pieces upon their hinges, and this motion will, as described above, also cause the side pieces to open.

As a convenient means for manipulating these arms or levers 24, I have provided on each end of the machine a disk 27 having a cam groove 28 preferably in the form of a spiral, said cam groove being adapted to receive the outer end of the arm 24. The disks are mounted upon shafts 29, which are provided with gears 30 meshing with pinions 31, mounted on the ends of a shaft 32 having a square end 32 upon which a crank may be mounted for turning the shaft and thereby swinging the lever and opening the inverted mold box. A cover plate 33 is provided for the mold, and is adapted to be engaged by hooks 34 upon the ends of the mold box. This plate, which constitutes the cover at first, will occupy the position of a bottomboard when the mold is inverted, and as it will be released from the hooks 34 when the ends are swung away from the molded article it will be seen that after the operation of the arms 24 is completed, the product of the mold box will rest upon this plate, and the plate may be lowered from the mold box and removed from the machine with the prodnot upon it. In order to support this plate and the weight upon it, I have provided a movable platform 35. This platform is preferably supported by two flexible connections 36 at each end, preferably in the form of ropes, chains or the like, and passing over pulleys 37 supported from the plate 11, and both passing over windlasses 38, mounted upon a shaft 39. This shaft is provided with a square end 40, to which a crank may be applied for operating it. It will be readily understood that-the operation of the crank will raise the frame into such position that the plate will rest upon it when the mold box is inverted, and that after manipulating the cam 27 the platform may be lowered with the plate and molded objects. The platform is provided with rollers 40 for assisting in removing the plate therefrom after it is lowered. The shaft 39 is provided with a ratchet wheel 41, with which a tooth 42 on .an arm 43 is adapted to engage for securing the platform in any desired position.

In constructing a molding machine upon the principle set forth above, whether in the form shown in the drawings or in any other form comprised within that principle, a frame is provided which can be readily taken apart by removing the rods 14 as described above, and dismounting the shafts 39 and 32 so that the whole can be packed in a space having small compass. The molding box can also be dismounted and taken apart in an obvious manner, so that the whole device will take up very small space in shipment; furthermore, the freeing of the mold box from the molded articles is a very simple operation, and the closing of the mold box after the articles are removed from it is performed very readily and by the same mechanism. If desired, the mold box may be divided into a number of compartments by division plates 44, and for a fine finish a glass plate 45 is secured in the mold.

From the above description the operation of this form of my invention will be understood, and it will be seen that while it is especially adapted for forming building blocks, the principle of the invention can be applied either in the form shown or in mo dified forms, for the production of molded objects or molded molds of various kinds. It will also be seen that the invention can be carried out in many other ways, within the scope of the seams claims. For instance, in molding iron or brass, the flask can be placed within this box and the first process of molding roceeded with. The lid is put on to hold the box firmly, and the whole turned over as is the case in producing cement blocks, and released in the same way. If required to be again placed in the first position it can be put back under the box, the platform raised, the box closed and turned back to its first position,

the spring hooks opened, and the lid taken off as in the first case.

The glass gives a very fine finish to the face of the block, almost as good as that obtained by polishing. A porcelain plate or any other with a smooth vitreous surface, either plane or embossed, may be substituted for the glass plate with equivalent results. The machine can of course be used for blocks of all shapes and sizes, either solid or hollow, and for making veneers.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A molding machine, comprising means for producing a molded article, a platform, and means for moving the platform toward and from said first-named means, said lastnamed means comprising a Windlass, and a pair of flexible members secured to the wind lass, one of said flexible members being connected with one side of the platform and the other with the other.

2. A molding machine, comprising means for producing a molded article, a platform for receiving the product of the machine, and means for moving the platform toward and from said first named means; said lastnamed means comprising a shaft, a pair of windlasses thereon, a pair of flexible connections secured to each Windlass, one of said flexible connections being connected with one side of the platform and the other with the other, and means for guiding one of said flexible connections to move the end of the platform in a vertical line.

3. A molding machine, comprising a frame consisting of two end pieces, a detachable means for connecting said end pieces together, a platform, and means for moving the platform along said frame.

4. A molding machine, comprising a frame consisting of two end pieces, and a pair of rods each detachably connected to the end pieces at its opposite ends.

5. A molding machine, comprising a frame consisting of two end pieces each having a plurality of eyes upon its inner surface, a plurality of rods each having projections for entering said eyes, a mold box rotatably mounted upon the frame, and means for separating the sides and ends of the mold box.

6. A molding machine, comprising a mold box, means for separating the sides and ends thereof, comprising a lever connected with the mold box, and means for moving the lever, said last-named means comprising a disk having a cam groove adapted to engage the lever.

7. A molding machine comprising a mold boX having pivoted walls, an eye on one of said walls, and means connected with another of the walls for engaging said eye and transmitting motion thereto.

8. A molding machine, comprising a mold box having a bottom, sides and ends, said sides and ends being pivotally connected with the bottom, means for swinging said ends about their pivots, and means for transmitting motion from the ends to the sides to swing the latter.

9. A molding machine, comprising a mold box having a bottom provided with eyes on its edges, a pair of sides each having hooks adapted to engage certain of said eyes, a pair of ends each having hooks adapted to engage other of said eyes, means for transmitting motion from the ends to the sides, and means for swinging the ends about their hooks as pivots.

10. A molding machine, comprising a mold box having a bottom provided with eyes at its edges, a pair of sides having means for engaging certain of said eyes, a pair,of ends having means for engaging other of said eyes,each side also having an eye near each end thereof, and each end having an outwardly-extending horn passing through one of said last-mentioned eyes.

11. A mold box for a molding machine, comprising a bottom, sides and ends, means for pivoting said sides and ends to the bot tom, an outwardly-projecting horn mounted near the extremities of each end, means on the sides for engaging said horns, a coverplate, means on the ends for engaging said cover-plate, and a glass plate constituting a molding face of the boX.

12. In a molding machine, the combination of a frame; a support upon which said frame is journaled; a mold carried by said frame comprising a bottom; adjustably suported end walls; side walls hinged at their ower edges; forwardly and outwardly projecting arms on said end walls adapted to engage the said side walls, whereby the said side walls are forced inwardly or outwardly by the shifting of said end walls; and means for shifting said end walls, for the purpose specified.

13. I11 a molding machine, the combination of a frame, a support upon which said frame is journaled; a mold carried by said frame comprising a bottom; adjustably suported end walls; side walls hinged at their Power edges; means for shifting one of said walls; and connections for said walls whereby they are actuated together.

14. A mold comprising a bottom; movable end walls; side walls hinged at their lower edges; hooks on said side walls; forwardly and upwardly projecting arms on one of said end walls adapted to engage the said hooks, whereby the said side walls are forced inwardly or outwardly by the shifting of said end walls; and means for shifting said end walls.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WVILLIAM WVELSH.

Witnesses:

JosEPn BARKER, ISABELLA M. BARKER. 

